Cotton-chopper.



J. G. CASSIDY.

COTTON CHOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 11. 1911.

1,027,033. Patented May 21, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Witnesses I a I Inventor,

1 Attorneys J. c. GASSIDY.

COTTON SHOPPER.-

- APPLICATION FILED MAY 11, 1911. I 1,027,033. Patented May 21, 1912.

. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I i w T j Invento Witnesses Attorneys- COLUMBIA PLANOORAFN CO" WASHINGTON, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES COUNCIL CASSIDY, OF PATRICK, SOUTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 ICHABUD MERRIMAN, 0F CHESTERFIELD, SOUTH CAROLINA.

COTTON-CHOPPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, 1912.

Application filed May 11, 1911. Serial No. 626,508.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES COUNCIL CasstDY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Patrick, in the county of Chesterfield and State of South Carolina, have invented a new and useful Cotton-Chopper, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in cotton cultivators,

The primary object of said invention is to provide a cultivator which may be used to cultivate the land before and after the cotton has grown.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for forming depressions in the drill which will facilitate the growth of cotton, said means assuring an even spacing of said depressions.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings,Figure 1 is a longi tuclinal sectional View of the cultivator. Fig. 2 is a top plan View. Fig. 3 is a trans verse section; and Fig. 4 is a top plan view, the central wheel being removed.

In the drawings, 10 and 11 designate spaced beams between which are mounted drive wheels 12, there being two sets of spaced beams, the two sets of beams being connected at either end by yokes l3 and 1 1, each of the beams 10 being provided with a rearwardly extending handle 10 by means of which the cultivator may be propelled across the ground. Arranged between the beam 11 and supported by said beams is a wheel 15, said wheel being formed with the broad rim 16 which is provided with the spaced apertures 17. Secured on the under face of said rim midway between the apertures 17 is a bracket or support 18 and the said bracket pivotally supports a substantially U shaped guard 19 the end portion 19 of said guard being recurved for contact with the edge of an aperture. The guard 19 being provided centrally with the U shaped securing device 19" which is pivotally supported by the bracket 18. The number of apertures and the number of guards 18 will vary in proportion to the diameter of the wheel 15, but, as shown in the drawings, the wheel is provided with four pairs of apertures, a guard member 19 being pivotally hung between each pair of apertures and within the wheel, its end portions being capable of movement through said apertures, the end portion 19 of each member as before stated contacting with one of the walls of an aperture. The other end 19' being capable of extending at right angles to the wheel rim, the portion 19 extending beyond the rim. A flat spring 20 is secured to the wheel rim adjacent one of each pair of apertures and is adapted to close the aperture through which the end portion 15) of the guard is adapted to extend. When said spring is brought in contact with the ground, the same will contact with the end portion 19 of the guard, thus forcing the end portion 19 through the aperture which lies adjacent the same, holding the same in this position until the spring is brought out of contact with the ground.

Secured to each of the members 11 is a downwardly extending recurved covering device 21, the recurved end portions of which lie immediately behind the wheel 15, said end portions being spaced a distance to effect an even covering. As the cultivator travels forward, the wheel 15 presses directly down on the drill of cotton, this pressure as the wheel rotates, forcing the soil within the apertures formed in the wheel which are not covered by the spring 20; as the wheels travel forward over a drill, some of the plants will project through the apertures formed in the wheel, while those in the path of the wheel between the apertures will be chopped out by the blades 19", the plants which extend through the apertures in the wheel, being left standing. It will be noted by this construction that the cotton left standing will be in a series of spaced hills, the coverers 21 which are arranged behind the wheel extending for a suflicient depth within the soil and at a proper distance from the drill to effectually cover, the plants.

When the device is used as a chopper the wheels 12 are dispensed with, these wheels being employed when the device is used as a cultivator. In using the device as a cultivator, the wheel 15 is removed the peculiar arrangement of the yokes 13 and 14 permitting the passage of the cotton bet-ween the drive wheels. Thus a device of this character may be utilized as a chopper or as a cultivator.

While the cultivator may be propelled in the same manner as a wheel-barrow, it will be noted that the same could of course be drawn forward. However, the resistance of the wheel 15 and the coverers 21 is so slight that the same may be easily and conveniently manipulated in the manner above described. It will also be noted that the device is extremely simple in construction and that the same may be easily and economically manufactured, the various parts being such as may be readily assembled. Particular attention is called'to the construction of the wheel 15 and the arrangement and operation of the guards 19 which assure a proper spacing of the hills and which are so arranged as to allow the coverers to fill the depressions between said hills.

lVhat is claimed is 1. In a cotton cultivator, a frame, a wheel supported by said frame, the rim of said wheel being provided with a plurality of apertures arranged in pairs, pivotally supported guard members, said guard members having their end portions extending through said apertures, and resilient means carried by said wheel for extending one of the ends of a member through one aperture, when said means contacts with the ground.

2. In a cotton cultivator, a frame, a wheel supported by said frame, said wheel being provided with a plurality of apertures arranged in pairs, a guard member arranged between each pair of apertures, and spring pressed members secured to said wheel, for forcing one end of said guard member through one of the apertures into contact with the ground.

3. In a cotton cultivator, a frame, a wheel supported by said frame, said wheel being provided with a plurality of apertures arranged in pairs, a member pivotally supported between each pair of apertures, said member being formed with end portions extending through said apertures, and a resilient member arranged for contact with one of said ends to hold said pivoted member against movement.

4. In a cotton cultivator, a frame, a wheel supported by said frame, the rim of said wheel being provided with a plurality of apertures arranged in pairs, a pivotally supported guard member, said guard member having its end portions extending through said apertures, and a resilient member arranged to contact with one of said ends to force the other-end through one of said apertures.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES COUNCIL CASSIDY.

lVitnesses:

BERTI-IA l/Vnsr, R. E. RIvnRs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

